1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to broadcast materials, and more particularly to a system and method for coordinating history information relating to broadcast materials.
2. Related Art
The proliferation of processors and processor-based systems in recent years has led to a tremendous increase in the ability of businesses, industry and individuals to share information. Most computers and workstations in today's homes and offices are connected in some manner to another computer or workstation, either locally or remotely. An early form of such inter-connection of computing systems is the local area network (LAN). Using LAN technology, several computers, workstations, peripherals, or other related devices can be connected to share data among one another and to share network resources.
The Internet can be thought of as an extension of local area network technology. The Internet originally began as a communication network through which government researchers, scientists and other personnel could exchange data or other information between offices and facilities throughout the world. Eventually, the Internet became accessible to the public. Initially, the public was slow to embrace the Internet, and it seemed as if the Internet would remain nothing more than a way for a select group of technologists to exchange e-mails and other data or information. Eventually, however, entrepreneurs who envisioned the growth of the consumer market for Internet services were able to attract a large number of consumers into the fold. As a result, a sort of snowball effect ensued in which more and more consumers become Internet users, and in turn, more and more businesses rushed to get web pages set up on an Internet server. With more businesses offering information, products and services on the Web, more consumers were attracted to the Internet. This cycle rapidly fed on itself virtually creating an explosion on the Internet.
However, the proliferation of the Internet did not stop with the provision of web pages to the Internet users, or web surfers. In the true capitalistic spirit, providers of popular web pages found that they were able to sell advertising space on their web pages. Thus, the Internet became not only a way for businesses to advertise their own businesses on their web pages, but also a way for advertisers to include their ads on others' web pages.
Seemingly overnight, the Internet had transformed into the new advertising medium of the decade. Virtually every business and industry jumped on to the Internet bandwagon. On top of that, hundreds, if not thousands, of new businesses were created to offer Internet-related services. It seemed as if just about everyone was able to capitalize on this new medium.
However, in spite of this proliferation, there were still a few business that were left out of the Internet craze. One example of such a business is the radio industry. Although stations could offer their own web sites on the Internet, such sites typically were not popular among the web surfers, and thus were not a good source of advertising revenues. Thus, even though radio stations could participate in the Internet, their only gains from doing so were PR-related.
Eventually, enterprising web developers decided that they could offer a mechanism by which one or more radio stations or radio networks could offer their broadcast materials over the Internet. One popular Internet site offering this service is www.broadcast.com, although there are others. While many radio stations have agreed to provide their programming across the Internet by such service providers, most have found that this has not led to an increase their advertising revenues. Although these providers offer an excellent service to radio stations and their listeners, most advertisers are not willing to pay a premium for advertising slots simply because the broadcast material is additionally offered to listeners over the Internet. Thus, even though these services allowed radio stations to further participate in the Internet-related industry, their ability to fully take advantage of Internet opportunities is still somewhat limited.
Additional background information on the use of computer networks as a broadcast medium is available from "BROADCAST AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHOD," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/961,314, filed Oct. 30, 1997, now pending, and "AUDIO CONTENT PLAYER METHODS AND ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/976,971, filed Nov. 25, 1997, now abandoned, both of which are fully incorporated by reference herein as though set forth in full.